In Training For The Long Race Against Blood Disease

By Kaaren Valenta

Jack Weber ran a half marathon in San Francisco on October 22 in memory of his sister, who died of leukemia in July. Sophfronia Scott and Charles Foster are riding their bikes in Arizona’s El Tour de Tucson on November 16 to honor their friends who survived blood-born cancers and those who did not.

The three Newtown residents joined the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team in Training (TNT) program this year to prepare for the events. TNT is the world’s largest endurance sports training program. In exchange for training and support, participants raise money toward cures for leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and myeloma. These cancers take the lives of Americans, young and old, every year.

More than 747,000 American have a blood cancer. Every five minutes someone else is diagnosed. Leukemia is the number one disease killer of children under 15, but because of research funded in part by the LLS, the survival rate for the most common form of childhood leukemia has improved from four percent in the 1960s to nearly 81 percent today.

The LLS national campaign’s slogan is “Relentless for a Cure.”

Jack Weber’s sister, Joan Bachand, was 49 years old when she died this summer, five months after being diagnosed with acute mycelogenous leukemia (AML).

“I was just a casual runner until this happened,” Mr Weber said. “I started training in March, the month after she was diagnosed. I intended to run in her honor to raise money for leukemia research. Instead I ran in her memory.”

Mr Weber, who works for a market research consulting firm in Stamford, ran the 13.1-mile Nike half marathon in just under two hours. He raised more than $9,000 in pledges, and was grateful for the support of his friends and neighbors.

“The event raised $14 million — it was very successful,” he said.

Sophfronia Scott decided to combine her love of cycling with a team effort by riding 109 miles in El Tour de Tucson.

“Okay, I can’t ride the Tour de France just yet, but I can still do something huge and help people in the process,” she explains on the Team in Training website. “I’m riding in honor of Ann Lunde, the mother of our neighbor and friend, Jane Brady [who is] currently waging her own fierce battle against leukemia.”

Ms Scott, who lives on Fawnwood Road in Sandy Hook, is an author — her debut novel, All I Need To Get By, St Martins Press, was sold out — as well as a writing coach, and licensed life coach.

“I do a lot of talking about big goals. I was talking a lot about the Tour de France but not acting,” she said in an interview with The Bee. “After I moved [to Connecticut] from New York City in January, someone told me about Team in Training. A week later I was at a neighborhood bunko game and my friend across the street told me about her mother who was battling leukemia. I decided to join Team in Training and raise money for leukemia. I have a website www.RideForAnn.com.

“Each donation helps accelerate cures and brings hope to the patients and families who are on the front lines of the battle against these diseases,” she said.

Sophfronia Scott has been cycling for about ten years. For Charles Foster, however, the century ride — a bike ride 100 miles more than in one day — would be a completely new experience.

“I’ll be riding a recumbent bike, an unusual looking bicycle that attracts attention,” he said. “When I ride around the streets of Newtown, people wave and come out to talk with me.”

An organizational development consultant, Mr Foster, 48, was working on a doctorate degree in leadership and change at Antioch University in Ohio last summer when he first saw and tried a recumbent bike.

“I liked it,” he said. “There is a steeper learning curve with this bike because the balance is different, but it is comfortable and I can make 109 miles with this kind of bike.”

Mr Foster said he was taking part in El Tour de Tucson to honor his niece, Melissa Goodfellow of Norwalk, a Hodgkin’s survivor and Team in Training participant herself, and to honor a childhood friend who of died of leukemia.

“I’m also runny for Bud Sargent, the father of my next door neighbor Peg Dimmick. I’ve created a website, home.earthlink.net/~cafoster01, for my little adventure.”

Rigorous training, including spin classes, helped get them in shape. Mr Foster admits that he has lost 25 pounds since July because of the training.

Readers can mail a donation in support of one or all of these local TNT participants to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Fairfield County Chapter, 25 Third Street, Stamford CT 06905 or call 203-967-8326. Each local teammate welcomes business sponsorship, too.

The Fairfield County chapter’s TNT program trains 200 walkers, runners, cyclists, and triathletes each year who, as a team, raise over $500,000. Nationwide 35,000 people train with TNT and raise more than $84 million. TNT has a website www.teamintraining.org.

The next TNT information meeting in Newtown will be held at 6:30 pm on Thursday, January 12, at the C.H. Booth Library on Main Street.